MANCHESTER: As India’s league game against New Zealand was abandoned without a ball being bowled, the semifinal clash against the ‘unknown’ Kiwis could prove to be tricky. India batting coach Sanjay Bangar, however, sounded confident of doing well against Kane Williamson’s side.
“It’s not too long ago that we played a full series against them. We played in New Zealand, played five games against them. So we exactly know what they are capable of and what are their strengths. So we’ll be keeping an eye on that,” said Bangar. Excerpts:
On Rohit Sharma’s roaring success: The secret behind his great progress in the one-day game is that he understands his game really well. He has a template and he follows us that and more often than not, it has given him success. On a tour to tour basis, based on the conditions and the country that we are playing, we constantly interact as to what tweaks could be added in a particular country. That is something we work on a consistent basis. But all credit to him because he’s worked really hard on his game. You have to credit his determination and discipline. It’s not only personally but he’s also helping KL Rahul along the way wherein he’s giving him the space that is required.
On the middle-order worry: I don’t think so because whoever has got to bat, obviously they haven’t got to bat for longer periods of time except for the Afghanistan game. Apart from that, Hardik has done a role. Mahi has done a role and even Rishabh has got two good knocks under his belt. So they are in good nick and such sort of scenarios have been happening consistently but as long as we are getting the job done then it augurs well for the team.
On batting combination: What we thought was the number of overs that the sixth bowler was eventually bowling, and with Hardik being pushed up, who was better suited at No. 7? Those were the questions that we discussed. That’s why we went with a slightly different combination. But I feel that gives a lot of balance and a lot of strength.
On not having a sixth bowling option: The only answer is to which I can say is that anyway the sixth bowler wasn’t really bowling that many overs. So that is the reason wherein we are opting to play with this combination. That might change according to the conditions but as far as the selection for the last two games was concerned, that is what we discussed.
